Soul Arcanum

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Dear Soul Arcanum: I had been eating organic chicken that is supposedly free of antibiotics and hormones, is able to run around happily, etc. But now I’m wondering, even with all its “good upbringing,” if the chicken is killed inhumanely (as they often are, according to what we’ve read in the news), would we absorb its fear vibrations into our systems when we eat it? How can we make sure we don’t pick up/absorb the animal’s fear, or is that just impossible? I contacted the company that packages the chicken, but I assume they will deny that their chickens are brutally slaughtered. What are your thoughts on this?
– Melissa

Dear Melissa:

As always, the following are just my own personal views. People get passionate about their beliefs, and vegetarianism (and the ethical treatment of animals) is a most provocative subject.

In a nutshell, YES – we can determine how the food we eat will affect us. I think that simply observing the different results people get from various diets demonstrates this. Someone can eat everything that is bad for you, smoke, drink, etc., and live to a ripe old age, while someone else can be super health-conscious and drop dead of a heart attack while out jogging one day.

At a metaphysical level, the difference between the two lies in their beliefs about health and diet, and the energy/emotions that those beliefs generate. I have observed a number of health nuts who were driven by fear of getting cancer or some other health problem develop exactly what they were afraid of. I have seen other people do whatever they wanted to do without one worry about how it would affect their health live to a ripe old age (and have a whole lot of fun doing it, too). We will manifest what we focus upon. Instead of worrying about how our food will affect our health/vibration, we’d be wiser to worry about our worrying! 😉

One who is fully aligned with well-being can do amazing things without suffering ill consequences. This is how fire walkers can walk across hot coals without getting burned; they fully align their energy with faith/well-being.

For example, doctors frequently point out how French people eat cheese and cream and drink wine all the time, yet they don’t have the health problems one would expect from this sort of diet. To me the reason for this is obvious: they eat with reverence and pleasure. They don’t worry about what they’re eating all the time, so they are free of guilt and fear. They approach eating very consciously; they put everything else aside, take their time, and really savor their food. They enter into eating with a high conscious intention of enjoying themselves on all levels, and thus regardless of what they eat, they are nourished. Americans, on the other hand, keep hearing how what they eat is going to create all these problems, and they keeping eating what they “shouldn’t” but obsessively worrying about it or feeling guilty.

Now, you might be wondering how all these health problems began in the first place if people didn’t use to worry about them. Basically, there ARE things that encourage health and things that challenge the body, and most folks tend to sleepwalk through life unaware of how their choices are creating their experiences. These are the folks who stumble into the hot coals and start jumping around screaming in pain. They run to their doctors and show them their burned feet, and then doctors urge the “surgeon general” to put out a warning: “Don’t walk on hot coals; you’ll get burned.”

So it is impractical to try to eat lower vibration foods on a regular basis if one desires a very high level of well-being, simply because it would take more conscious focus and intention than anyone I know would be capable of to override the natural vibration of those foods. (Imagine that instead of summoning the power to walk across hot coals once, you have to do this every time you eat something. It’s exhausting just thinking about it).

I don’t believe there is one diet that is right for all people. I do believe, however, that there is one approach to eating that will prove positive for everyone. It involves making a habit of eating foods that are easy for the body to usefully assimilate. This is like choosing a nice, smooth path in life, instead of hot coals. It also involves making a habit of approaching eating (and for that matter, everything in life) with an attitude of pleasure, reverence and gratitude. In this way, regardless of what one specifically chooses to eat, one’s vibration is aligned with well-being, and thus that is what one will experience. I can’t think of a single culture that historically has NOT had some prayer or ritual designed to consciously align with reverence and gratitude for the food about to be eaten. Sadly, in addition to surrounding us with highly processed, low vibration food, modern life has led us far from simple wisdom like this.

As for the controversial issue of vegetarianism, I feel that is also an individual decision. I honor your choice and I encourage everyone to listen to their bodies and their intuition in making their own choice as well. Personally I think Native Americans had the right balance. When they would kill an animal for food, they would offer a prayer of thanks to the animal’s spirit for giving its life so that they could live. The animal’s sacrifice was thus honored, and the act of eating was approached with reverence. By contrast, we have become totally disconnected from the source of our food. Instead of raising animals and slaughtering them ourselves, instead of watching the beauty and grace of a deer before we kill it for food, we go to the grocery store and buy plastic-wrapped packages of stuff that looks nothing like the animal it was a short time ago. It’s hard to feel reverence for an animal’s sacrifice when we’ve forgotten there was even an animal involved in our meal in the first place.

I recently heard a (vegetarian) Buddhist monk answer a question about eating meat, and he pointed out that for a vegetarian to refuse to eat meat based on principle is to dishonor the sacrifice the animal has made. The animal has died to become our food; if we refuse to eat it, then it has died for nothing. This seems even more poignant in the case of an animal that lived a miserable existence. He encouraged us all to choose with love and to remain flexible. After all, it is impossible to live without harming any living thing. We can’t even scratch an itch without obliterating microscopic organisms.

So in summary, there are food choices that are like smooth, easy paths for our bodies. The more whole, natural and fresh a food is, the more life force energy it contains, and the better it is for our health. I try to eat a lot of fresh raw fruits and vegetables and nuts. This is high vibration food, and thus it not only enhances physical health, but also spiritual growth. I limit or avoid sugar, white flour and other processed foods, beef, pork and alcohol. This does not mean I never eat them or that I never would. It does sadden me that animals are treated cruelly, and I am aware of the energy involved in eating those beings, so like you, I try to choose consciously.

Maintaining true health and well-being requires us to remain flexible and open and to constantly listen to our intuition, for when we become rigid and dogmatic in our beliefs, or when we worry and act from fear, we ultimately do more harm than we prevent.

Act with love. Eat with love. Give thanks for all that life sends your way. Listen to your body/intuition and honor your truth. Be humble and grateful. When you approach life this way, your vibration of well-being will override the energy of everything and everyone that enters your experience.

– Soul Arcanum